Ted Danson

“Studying with Robert Patterson gave me a concrete and specific way of working which has served me throughout my career. The skills I learned for building a character have enabled me to approach my craft with confidence and flexibility. His studio is indispensable for any actor serious about learning the art of acting.”

JoBeth Williams

“The Patterson Studio gave me a true technique to use in any acting situation — theatre, film, or television. When I studied with Bob, I discovered that there was a real, concrete craft to the seemingly ephemeral art of acting which could be applied throughout one’s life as an actor. I would recommend Robert Patterson’s classes for any actor serious about his or her craft.”

Tim Kelleher

“I studied with Robert Patterson and completed the course. Was it a breeze? Hardly. I never expected that studying acting could be so demanding, but then, I more or less looked at acting solely as a field of entertainment. It is that, of course, but it’s also an interpretive art, and I can’t think of a single musician, dancer, or other interpretive artist who didn’t shed some blood, sweat, toil, and tears along the way. This class is not for everyone. If you’re more concerned with yourself in the art than the art in yourself, by all means spare yourself (and Mr Patterson) the trouble.
I’m grateful, I was taught a complete way of working, and took a huge step in learning, to appreciate and develop skills in other aspects of theater. Since then, I’ve been very fortunate to work steadily in film, TV and on stage. I’ve had the privilege to work with world famous directors and actors, and I can say with complete candor, that not a day has ever gone by in any of those situations, that I didn’t draw on what Robert Patterson taught me. Sometimes it even brings a smile to my face that surely must look a little out of context to my co-workers.”

Martha Jacobs

“I was in Patterson’s very first class, having already been through two respected training programs for actors. What Patterson taught changed everything about my understanding of acting and theatre. After nearly four decades of working as an actor, director and teacher, I wrote
‘ A Meisner Legacy‘ to record what I learned from Patterson; my work with Patterson finally gave me professional confidence. Not every student can work with a teacher. It takes experience and maturity to demand and focus on substance.”

Pearl Lang

Choreographer – Director, Pearl Lang Dance Theatre
“The Robert Patterson Studio stimulates, and inspires growth and versatility in the actor through the many involvements in theatre forms leaving no stone unturned”

Amy Warner

“Studying with Robert Patterson twenty-five years ago prepared me for work I’ve since done in television and theatres across the country. I’ve never forgotten the things I’ve learned in his class. He truly taught me how to act.”

Tom Vasiliades

Director of Alexander Technique / Center for Performance and Development
Bob Patterson’s students are equipped with a solid way of working and an understanding that the instrument must be fully trained. They have an awareness of what is needed and the ability to create it. It is clear that they have learned a great deal from Bob Patterson

Henry Davis

Actor

When I first started studying with Robert Patterson it instantly became clear that I had no idea of what it meant to be a completely trained classical actor. Any knowledge or understanding I thought I had about acting had to be left at the door and never to be picked up again. Robert Patterson’s understanding of acting is complete and his ability to impart and teach a complete way of working is masterful. I literally can’t put in words (it can only be understood through the doing) how transformative this experience has been for me. My understanding of the world around me and human behavior as it relates to acting has broaden in ways I couldn’t imagine. Most importantly learning the craft of acting itself.

Studying with Robert Patterson was not easy. I learned however that there is a necessary difficulty in learning to act in a real complete way. One has to be willing to make necessary sacrifices in order to learn there craft.

I have complete confidence in my ability to work and having a way of working in any professional situation regardless of the material. That confidence came with completing the process and the last 9 weeks of professional rehearsals that lead to the final performances. I’m so grateful to have studied with Robert Patterson and look forward to having a long lasting professional career in acting.

Michael Fegley

Actor/Director – Film/Regional Theatre –
“I can only say by studying at the Robert Patterson Studio, I developed a complete way of working that allows me to approach any material fearlessly. I have worked Off-Broadway, and in several film projects (AEA and SAG), and find myself moving from one project to the next. There are no questions that remain, I know what to do from the moment a text is handed to me. This allows me to explore the role and subject myself to the circumstances in a real way. This work is the evolution of Stanislavsky, which was translated into a teachable approach by Sanford Meisner, and developed into a complete craft by Robert Patterson. This is the home for serious actors who seek a solid and specific way of working.”

Kristyn Koczur

I was a student in the most recent class that completed the 28 month professional course at the Robert Patterson Studio. It took me somewhat longer than 28 months for a variety of reasons. “Many are called…” and few discover they are there for the right reasons, causing disruptions along the way. It was a long and rugged road which I stayed on because in my heart of hearts I have always believed that my talent and my destiny would lead me to a life in the theatre.

As happens for many people, necessity made this direction impractical for many years. I put my dreams on hold for a long time until, by chance I met Mr. Patterson at one of his free seminars. Instantly, it became apparent that his gift for understanding and communicating the craft of acting was unparalleled by any teacher I had met thus far, and the list was extensive.

It was also clear that this teacher had a fierce and uncompromising personality and that studying with him would be no walk in the park. I struggled for years to understand if and why it was necessary to succumb to what seemed to me, radical standards of excellence in order to become the kind of actor I dreamed of becoming.

Intuition told me it was and when I was tempted to throw in the towel, nagged at my conscience to do what was necessary to learn something beyond what I could ever have previously comprehended as a complete way of working. Bruised and bewildered at times, I kept with it and one fine day completed the training and performed the final scenes with my one remaining fellow classmate.

It was my good fortune that someone in the industry who came to watch the final scenes was involved in a web series that was currently casting and suggested that I audition for a role which I was subsequently cast in and found to be an incredibly gratifying experience. What lies ahead for me as an actor is unknown. What I have is the security of knowing that what I learned at the Robert Patterson Studio has made it possible for me to act with confidence and integrity in any professional situation if I remain responsible to what I have been taught.

Twenty-eight months? Probably not. But “young” actors owe it to themselves to discover whether the journey is worth embarking upon.

Michael Griffiths

Actor/Producer – Living in Oblivion

Actor/Producer/Director – The Arc Light Theater
“One of the most important results of working with Bob is simply confidence. Bob offers a complete way of working that allows the actor to make strong, specific choices and improvise fully in any given set of imaginary circumstances. That spells confidence – a trait I find sorely lacking in most actors I meet today.”

Katina Kalin

Speech Coach Partner

“I love working with Robert’s student; they are open, eager, and curious. Robert instills in them a dedication and commitment and their work and training pays off. The final scenes I attended in August were the culmination of intensive training and his actors, including Kristyn and Henry, have the technique and work ethic required to enter the professional acting world.”

Phil Hall

Singing Coach Partner

“I have had the opportunity and pleasure to work with several of Robert Patterson’s acting students. I find it an inspired idea of his to have his acting students study singing regardless of whether or not they will become musical theater performers. I believe Robert finds singing another modality of expression for an actor, and another way for actors to understand and utilize their voices in the utterance of lyrics (text that rhymes.) I believe Robert finds that studying singing also complements both the musicality as well as the cadence of acting students in spoken lines. His students speak of his almost sacred desire to be thorough in the acting instruction he provides. He desires to fully equip his students to go out into the professional world confidently and passionately with both the tools as well as the understanding they will need as a working actor, and what better preparation could an actor ask for that?”

An actor’s life is … a studied madness. The height of their ambition is to be beside themselves

William Hazlitt

"Acting is the truest picture of life." -- The Patterson Studio. All rights reserved.